After having been dealt two unexpected defeats, Indonesian archers raised their game on Tuesday to snatch two gold medals at the Wunna Theikdi archery field in Naypyitaw.

Team manager Alman Hudri could not hold back his tears after his women’s recurve team was announced the winner.

The team, comprising Diananda Choirunisa, Ika Yuliana Rochmawati and Titik Kusumawardani, outscored the Vietnamese team 212-200 to give Indonesia its first win on the archery field at the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The previous day the Indonesian archery team had to be content with only two silver medals and a bronze.

The silvers were won in the women’s compound individual by Dellie Threesyadinda and by Titik in the women’s recurve individual event. Ika took bronze from the women’s recurve.

“We can’t believe it. They [Vietnam] were favorites. Our hard work for a year has paid off,” said Chairunnisa.

The athletes dedicated the gold medals to their families and the Indonesian people.

Coach Alman hailed their victory as remarkable.

“They [Vietnam] were better than us during the Asian Championships in Shanghai this year where they faced South Korean and Japanese archers, who are the world champions. They ranked fourth in the event,” said Alman.

He said that the current team members were really solid and that they should look ahead to the next challenge when they participated in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, next year and the Olympics.

The second gold medal was seized by the women’s compound team in the final sessions in the afternoon.

Dellie, Rona Siska Sari and Sri Ranti defeated the Thailand team 217-209 in the final.

“This is history because we’ve never won gold in this event in the SEA Games. The best achievement was a silver medal in the 1997 Games,” said coach Daniel Willem Lumalesil.

“We were certainly targeting a gold medal. We were focused on our technique from the beginning, and the wind was not as strong as yesterday,” said Dellie.

The archery team had been aiming for three gold medals, however, the team missed its targets in the men’s compound and men’s recurve team events.

In total, Indonesia’s archery team collected two gold, two silver and four bronze.